5 Steps to Great Soil. Fall Edition

In 5 steps you’ll be able to start to improve your soil immediately. The steps are easy and simple to implement.

This course is great for beginners as well as more experienced gardeners. Soil is the foundation of a good garden. Literally. Without good soil, you’ll always be fighting with pests, diseases and nutrient deficiencies.

Course Features

Lectures27

Quizzes0

Duration50 hours

Skill levelAll levels

LanguageEnglish

Students28

CertificateNo

AssessmentsYes

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Welcome 0/2

Welcomes and introduction to the course

Lecture1.1

Orientation

10m

Lecture1.2

Introductions

15m

Step 1: Remove disease, pests & weed seeds 0/3

Keeping the garden clean (i.e. sanitized) in the fall means less problems in the spring.

Lecture2.1

Why do it?

5m

Lecture2.2

Sanitation

30m

Lecture2.3

Action!

30m

Step 2: Soil assessment 0/6

You'll learn how to read your land as well as a few DIY soil tests. Finally, discover the and find out the value of lab soil tests.

Lecture3.1

Walking the land

20m

Lecture3.2

DIY soil tests

40m

Lecture3.3

Why get a lab soil test done?

10m

Lecture3.4

Soil collection and soil labs

30m

Lecture3.5

What your soil test measures and what it means

30m

Lecture3.6

Action!

30m

Step 3: Add organic matter 0/4

You'll find out the best materials to add to increase your soil's organic matter

Lecture4.1

What is organic matter?

10m

Lecture4.2

Why add organic matter?

30m

Lecture4.3

How do I build up organic matter?

15m

Lecture4.4

Action!

30m

Step 4: Sow cover crops 0/4

Find out the cover crops that fix your soil's problems. There's a cover crop for almost every soil problem.

Lecture5.1

What are cover crops?

30m

Lecture5.2

Fall cover crops

30m

Lecture5.3

Terminating the cover crop

30m

Lecture5.4

Seed companies

10m

Step 5: Mulch and organic fertilizers 0/2

The best mulches to improve soil and insulate plants. Which fertilizers to add in fall so the nutrients are available in the spring

Bonus 0/4

Cristina is a garden writer and instructor who specializes in the importance of soil in gardening.

Cristina has been instructing adults for over 30 years. Cristina also writes Soil Groundwork blog and runs a tweet chat called #groundchat, which discusses different soil-related topics on Twitter every Friday at 2 pm EST.

She is a longtime gardener (30+ years) with two degrees in horticulture. Her Masters covered aspects of soil and plant nutrition. Cristina has gardened in many types of soils. From sandy soil at 10 years old to clay soil garden in southern Ontario.